To ask how you dry your laundry in the winter?

[Marie0]

I seem to do washing every day - there are only 4 or us that seems too much.

Any way - although I do have a tumble dryer I’m reluctant to use it because it’s quite expensive- so just in ‘emergencies’.

But I don’t really like washing on the radiators all over the house - just doesn’t look nice.

I currently have a de-humidifier plugged in and 2 clothes airers set up.

But they take up so much room and because I wash every day - they are in constant use so a bit of an eye sore.

How do I overcome my laundry challenge?

I do washing most days. Hang it on two clothes airers near the kitchen door which has a window in it so sunlight gets through. Odds and ends I put on little things that go on radiators. When they are rough dry I tumble dry which softens and means less or even no ironing in some cases. I don't tumble dry from scratch, that would take forever.

Thanks for all the replies- sounds like we all do a lot of laundry!

I use my tumble dryer all year round because I am not physically able to hang washing on the line. I have to think about it a bit and if I can afford the electric on the meter but not much!

I do 1 or 2 extra spins for most items and hang them on hangers from the handles of top doors of fitted wardrobes. I keep the wardrobe doors open so they dry quite fast. For smaller items I have the small airers that hang on the radiators. I do wash most days too and hang each persons clothes in their room. I also dry bedding by opening lower doors of wardrobes and draping them between two doors. Dont have any trouble with damp because of te extra spins.

big things like bedding, towels & jeans over banister.
shirts on corners of laundry cupboard doors (washer & dryer are in bathroom cupboard).
jumpers, t-shirts & underwear on minky overbath rack & standing rack.
socks hung round edges of laundry baskets near radiator.
all of this happens for roughly 24 hours, & then it gets finished off in tumble dryer to get rid of creases & any residual damp in seams. I generally do a max of one load a day in the winter.
(occasionally underwear & socks go straight into dryer because I can't be arsed with the faffing.)
luckily none of this causes condensation. house has fairly high ceilings & is a bit leaky.

Tumble dryer all year round. Hanging washing in our house increases damp and we get mould

I used to faff around with clothes horses / radiators but found the continuous eyesore depressing. Now I use the tumble dryer and hang delicates on hangers in the airing cupboard. If the laundry is up to the ceiling I pack up the lot and drive it to the laundrette for a service wash and dry. So much laundry, all the time!

when we first moved into this house 30+ years ago there was a big old oil boiler in the kitchen with a maiden on the ceiling above it - that was fab.
But then it started belching dirty smoke out & we replaced it with a gas combi boiler upstairs.

Tumble dryer all year round

Yep, same here.

I am lucky to have a small airing cupboard that I have an airer in, I also have 2 folding airers that I place in front of rads overnight, as well as draping heavy things such as towel on the rads.
TBH I would rather use the heat that I have already paid for, than pay to use a dryer or airer.
How cares if it looks messy! It is already paid for!!!

Tumble dryer for most things & heated airer for more delicate or quick drying items. All year round.

Tumble dryer all year round for us, I do at least a load a day and don’t have space or enough radiators to dry it any other way!

My dryer uses (I think) a bit under 3 kwh, and we pay 11.85p per kwh, so it's c 36p per hour.

If it was run for 2 hours every day that would be about £5 per week,

We have 2 of these in our little utility and i love them, with the washing machine, boiler and an extractor vent stuff drys quickly, and is out of the way. They fold flat against the wall so when not in use are fab. I maintain you could put them in bathrooms etc.

Ours were from Ikea and sadly you can't get them anymore but search fold down wall mounted drying rack and you'll find something similiar.

I dry sheets in the dryer if need be but if overnight create little tents with the dining chairs! I also still hang out sheets especially if dry but windy.

There’s 3 of us but I do 2/3 loads every day!

How?!

Put washing on in the evening and hang over airers overnight - when you can't see them. Dehumidifier on.

Hang tops on airer arms, shower rail or wherever.

In the morning, tumble dry anything you're not going to iron. Or put on radiators. It shouldn't take long.

You should have most of it dry by mid morning or when you come home from work.

£5 a week is still a heck of a lot of money! £260 a year if you use it year round!!!
I can think of a lot of better things to spend that money on!

air drying or on radiators in the same room your sitting it is harmful(google it)its some thing to do with damp pores going in the air and you breathing it in

but to answer the question we have a condenser dryer that's used all year round as we sleep most of the day and are up all night so never catch the midday sun

I have a clothes airer in my conservatory which has underfloor heating - it's brilliant for drilling laundry!!!

Condenser dryer.

Best thing we bought when we started a family.

2 adults and 2 mucky kids here. Average 2 washes a week for everyday clothes (7kg machine), ocassional extra wash of bedding/towels/DH workwear/whites.
I’m really surprised how much stuff people are going through or are they not filling the drum fully?
As for drying, pulley in the kitchen, clothes horse and dehumidifier all night long.

£5 a week is still a heck of a lot of money! £260 a year if you use it year round!!!
I can think of a lot of better things to spend that money on!

Oh I agree - I generally use mine for a max of 2 hours a week, not a day!

But say someone's suddenly got loads of laundry to do all at once, & it rains for a week, it means they can use the dryer for some/most/all of it without feeling too wasteful.

It's definitely worth drying before tumble drying if you can. A dehumidifier while drying, and opening windows during the day will reduce the damage caused by the damp air.

Towels and anything else that will take a long time to dry are, I think, better tumble dried after hanging over an airer.

A lot of things can be ironed damp and aired.

I rarely fill my washer, despite loads of luundry. It's much kinder on the clothes to be about 2/3 full, plus they wash better. Or I can just do a half load and save a load of time.

I tumble dry pretty much everything all year round. I couldn’t live with wet washing hanging all over the place. And a tumble dryer certainly doesn’t shrink things if you use the correct heat and time. I don’t see the point though OP if getting a TD if you’re still going to festoon the big stuff around the house and use the dryer for just underwear as you said upthread. The other great thing about a TD is that it cuts down hugely on ironing. Get stuff out while warm and either fold or hang. The only thing I iron these days is linen trousers.